Thanks for that. Watering my cat was indeed a much beloved segment of my morning routine.
If anybody wants to employ a namedrop (eg. 'it's like x') to get me interested in a game, x= Stardew Valley will always work.

Hey, Baile nam Fonn - you should try Dwarf Fortress. It's a lot like Stardew Valley. You can grow crops, and drowning the cats is actually quite easy. It's full of weird, wacky characters that all secretly hate you, too! And each other, typically. Best of all, there's plenty of mining! They're practically the same game!

Hey, Baile nam Fonn - you should try Cloudbuilt. It's a lot like Stardew Valley. You can move forward, back, left and right, it's drawn in a cartoony style, and it's also played on a monitor!
They're practically the same game!

So, have played it in Beta with Stardust! Verdict: it was awesome! I actually had more fun playing with her than I think I ever had playing by myself.

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

Time moves very quickly. The game does not pause, ever, during cutscenes, looking at your inventory, crafting, talking to people, etc. Days are not longer to make up for this. As a result, you can feel a bit rushed to get everything finished in the time you want to - especially on the earlier days where cutscenes are more prevalent.

Money is shared. This is a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it means everyone works for the benefit of the hive. On the other hand, it means any one person can topple the hive buying beer for Pam.

Items are not shared. This is nice.

There's an option to change how much gold you make, to 75%, 50%, or 25%. In two player games I'd say it's safe to leave it at 100% or, if good players, 75%. It's hard to make up for the time missing from cutscenes/talking.

Relationships don't seem to be shared. Also awesome. If two people want to date the same person I guess it turns into a race to see who can woo them first. I wonder if there's special dialogue when trying to woo someone who's already married - or if they can cheat on you. Needs more research done.

Overall it's awesome fun, although I'd probably find it less fun if it wasn't Stardust, or if we didn't have voice chat running at the same time.

If you enjoyed Stardew Valley solo and have a good friend or three that enjoy it too, multiplayer is absolutely a good reason to get back into it. I don't know if it works between steam and GOG, but Stardust and I both had GOG accounts and it worked pretty well. She's on a mac, though, so her mouse-clicking is a bit odd. she has to use x and c for some things and it's... strange. But still great fun!

Note: would probably be best if you played with people you saw eye-to-eye with and weren't of the mischief-causing sort. I could see that getting old fast. (Fortunately Stardust and I are very much in-sync. )

So I've had over 3 million gold for quite awhile now, am in summer year 8. Have four cows, one goat, one pig, one cat, three rabbits, two ducks, one wife, two void chickens, three normal chickens, two kiddos, one greenhouse full of fruit trees and starfruit, one mushroom cave, six silos, four grandpa candles, four sheds full of kegs, two sheds full of preserves jars, one shed half full of crystalariums with diamonds, four 95 tile fields, one one 104 tile field, wooded area for wood and saps, grassy area for hay, twelve furnaces, eight bait bins, one statue of endless fortune, one statue of perfection, four cheese presses, eight mayonnaise machines, three looms, three oil makers, one mill, one horse with stable, a cellar full of casks making iridium starfruit wine, and a whole ton of chests for things.
Married Penny in like year 3, made Pam a house today, restored Community Center, filled library and almost filled museum, ten hearts with almost everyone, reached bottom of mine, unlocked teleportation staff, unlocked all galaxy weapons, finished all wizard quests.
It's great.
Have yet to fully explore the Skull Caverns. Have not unlocked all achievements, have not fulfilled monster eradication goals, have not seen Clint's special heart event because saw Emily's first which makes Clint's not show, have not won Stardew Valley fair (darn you Pierre, gonna get you one of these years) have won all other festivals though.
Edit: I have not actually played the game enough since update 1.3.27, so I have not gotten through a winter season yet, so I simply have not attended the Night Market event. Will get to that one day, and when I do, will love it with all my pixelated heart.